Drug Use & Abuse – Page 74 – Trigger Warning Database

Native Son by Richard Wright

Native Son by Richard Wright

Right from the start, Bigger Thomas had been headed for jail. It could have been for assault or petty larceny; by chance, it was for murder and rape. Native Son tells the story of this young black man caught in a downward spiral after he kills a young white woman in a brief moment of panic.

Set in Chicago in the 1930s, Wright’s powerful novel is an unsparing reflection on the poverty and feelings of hopelessness experienced by people in inner cities across the country and of what it means to be black in America.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism & racial slurs
Rape
Alcohol consumption
Recreational drug use
Blood & gore depiction
Dead body
Murder
Gun violence
Knife violence
Physical assault
Bullying

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

When four classmates from a small Massachusetts college move to New York to make their way, they’re broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition. There is kind, handsome Willem, an aspiring actor; JB, a quick-witted, sometimes cruel Brooklyn-born painter seeking entry to the art world; Malcolm, a frustrated architect at a prominent firm; and withdrawn, brilliant, enigmatic Jude, who serves as their centre of gravity. Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Ableism
Transphobia & misgendering
Paedophilia & child sexual abuse
Rape & rape of a child
Physical & emotional child abuse
Child neglect & abandonment
Intimate partner violence & abuse
Eating disorder
Graphic attempted suicide, suicidal ideation & self-harm
Drug abuse
Graphic death of a child

Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales

Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales

Darcy Phillips:
• Can give you the solution to any of your relationship woes―for a fee.
• Uses her power for good. Most of the time.
• Really cannot stand Alexander Brougham.
• Has maybe not the best judgement when it comes to her best friend, Brooke…who is in love with someone else.
• Does not appreciate being blackmailed.

However, when Brougham catches her in the act of collecting letters from locker 89―out of which she’s been running her questionably legal, anonymous relationship advice service―that’s exactly what happens. In exchange for keeping her secret, Darcy begrudgingly agrees to become his personal dating coach―at a generous hourly rate, at least… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Bimisia & internalised bimisia
Emotional parental abuse
Alcohol consumption & abuse
Recreational drug use
Emesis
Bullying

If This Gets Out by Rachel Griffin

If This Gets Out by Rachel Griffin

Eighteen-year-olds Ruben Montez and Zach Knight are two members of the boy-band Saturday, one of the biggest acts in America. Along with their bandmates, Angel Phan and Jon Braxton, the four are teen heartbreakers in front of the cameras and best friends backstage. But privately, cracks are starting to form: their once-easy rapport is straining under the pressures of fame, and Ruben confides in Zach that he’s feeling smothered by management’s pressure to stay in the closet.

On a whirlwind tour through Europe, with both an unrelenting schedule and minimal supervision, Ruben and Zach come to rely on each other more and more, and their already close friendship evolves into a romance… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Homomisia
Coming out themes
Emotional parental abuse
Alcohol consumption
Recreational drug use & abuse
Addiction
Eating disorder

A New Kind of Everything by Richard Yaxley

A New Kind of Everything by Richard Yaxley

After their father’s reckless death, the Gallagher family must find new directions. Dinny’s mum finds a new form of freedom, but the paths the boys are choosing are pointing them in dangerous directions.

Fourteen-year-old Dinny is in danger of repeating his father’s behaviour, and his older brother Carl sees an opportunity for independence. But when Carl becomes involved in the aggressive agenda of an anti-immigration group, a different crisis develops—leading the family to tragedy, insight, and rebirth.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism
Domestic abuse recounted
Child abuse recounted
Suicide
Recreational drug use
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a father
Car accident

The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed

The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed

Los Angeles, 1992

Ashley Bennett and her friends are living the charmed life. It’s the end of senior year and they’re spending more time at the beach than in the classroom. They can already feel the sunny days and endless possibilities of summer.

Everything changes one afternoon in April, when four LAPD officers are acquitted after beating a black man named Rodney King half to death. Suddenly, Ashley’s not just one of the girls. She’s one of the black kids… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Fatmisia & body shaming
Lesbomisia
Homomisia
Racism & racist slurs
Colourism
Parental abse
Domestic abuse
Cheating
Sexual harassment
Attempted suicide mentioned
Alcohol consumption & abuse
Recreational drug use & abuse
Blood depiction & physical injuries
AIDS mentioned
Riots
Police brutality & racial profiling
Gun violence
Lynching
Physical assault
Wildfires

Accidentally Engaged by Farah Heron

Accidentally Engaged by Farah Heron

Reena Manji doesn’t love her career, her single status, and most of all, her family inserting themselves into every detail of her life. But when caring for her precious sourdough starters, Reena can drown it all out. At least until her father moves his newest employee across the hall–with hopes that Reena will marry him.

But Nadim’s not like the other Muslim bachelors-du-jour that her parents have dug up. If the Captain America body and the British accent weren’t enough, the man appears to love eating her bread creations as much as she loves making them. She sure as hell would never marry a man who works for her father, but friendship with a neighbor is okay, right? … Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Fatmisia & body shaming
Eating disorder recounted & disordered food thoughts
Cheating mentioned
Alcohol consumption
Recreational drug use mentioned
Pregnancy mentioned
Cancer mentioned
Death of a mother mentioned

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

Luc O’Donnell is tangentially–and reluctantly–famous. His rock star parents split when he was young, and the father he’s never met spent the next twenty years cruising in and out of rehab. Now that his dad’s making a comeback, Luc’s back in the public eye, and one compromising photo is enough to ruin everything.

To clean up his image, Luc has to find a nice, normal relationship…and Oliver Blackwood is as nice and normal as they come. He’s a barrister, an ethical vegetarian, and he’s never inspired a moment of scandal in his life. In other words: perfect boyfriend material. Unfortunately apart from being gay, single, and really, really in need of a date for a big event… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Classism
Homomisia & homomisic slurs
Eating disorder mentioned
Emotional parental abuse
Alcohol & drug abuse mentioned
Cancer mentioned

Hushed by Kelley York

Hushed by Kelley York

Eighteen-year-old Archer couldn’t protect his best friend, Vivian, from what happened when they were kids, so he’s never stopped trying to protect her from everything else. It doesn’t matter that Vivian only uses him when hopping from one toxic relationship to another—Archer is always there, waiting to be noticed.

Then along comes Evan, the only person who’s ever cared about Archer without a single string attached. The harder he falls for Evan, the more Archer sees Vivian for the manipulative hot-mess she really is… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism & ableist language
Homomisia
Rape
Sexual abuse
Domestic abuse
Forced suicide
Alcohol abuse
Drug abuse
Murder

Gem and Dixie by Sara Zarr

Gem & Dixie by Sara Zarr

Gem has never known what it is to have security. She’s never known an adult she can truly rely on. But the one constant in her life has been Dixie. Gem grew up taking care of her sister when no one else could: not their mother, whose issues make it hard for her to keep food on the table, and definitely not their father, whose intermittent presence is the only thing worse than his frequent absence. Even as Gem and Dixie have grown apart, they’ve always had each other.

When their dad returns home for the first time in years and tries to insert himself back into their lives, Gem finds herself with an unexpected opportunity: three days with Dixie—on their own in Seattle and beyond… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Parental abandonment
Alcohol consumption
Recreational drug use & abuse